Tag Archives: Smoothie

Want to Look and Feel Better? Drink Fruit

My skin has been aggressively dry this winter. My hands were starting to look like they belonged to a 150 year-old alien creature. They remained, dry, scaly and wrinkled no matter how much water I was drinking or how much cream I slathered on them. My face wasn’t faring much better.

I wondered why I suddenly seemed to be aging so rapidly. What was different? I realized I wasn’t eating enough fruit. I used to drink green smoothies most days. I had tapered off because, quite frankly, I don’t like them very much. Greens and fruit blended together tasted okay but I can’t say I enjoyed them. I don’t particularly want to see that shade of green early in the morning either. I also found that they repeated on me for several hours after I drank them. I much prefer to eat greens in salads. I personally seem to digest them better that way.

I hadn’t realized that when I dropped the green smoothies, I stopped eating as much fruit. This week, I began drinking fruit smoothies with my breakfast and the difference was immediate. My hands became recognizable as my own again. They were suddenly soft and supple. The skin on my face also smoothed out and plumped up again. My whole body felt better inside and out. My mid-morning desire to snack even went away.

My experience isn’t just anecdotal. Fruit is packed with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and phytonutrients. These properties are vital to our overall health and well-being. Fruit is also usually high in fiber. The increased fiber from the fruit is probably the reason I have been fuller longer and was able to ditch my mid-morning snack. Fiber, of course, also helps the body rid itself of waste and harmful invaders.

The base of my smoothie is always a banana and almond milk. I add a cup of various frozen fruits to this starter: mango, pineapple, and berries. I thaw them out in the fridge overnight. I don’t really like super cold drinks. When the ice crystals hit the back of my throat, I start coughing. I figure using softer fruit is less wear and tear on my blender too.

I know fruit smoothies get some flack for containing a lot of natural sugar. However, since the fruit is still whole when I blend it, the fiber and nutrients are intact. It isn’t as though I am getting all this sugar in a concentrated form like I would with just juice. So, I am not that worried about it.

How about you? Have you been experiencing very dry skin this winter? A fruit smoothie might just be the delicious solution that you seek now that Spring has sprung!

Naturally Nutritious: Beet Greens and a Smoothie Recipe

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One of the nicest things about shopping at the farmer’s market is that you see the produce in its natural state. There is no way you could transport beets and other root vegetables with the greens still intact. They would rot over the thousands of miles it takes for them to be delivered. Heaven forbid should there still be any soil on a fruit or veggie in the supermarket! By the time we see them, they are the de-stemmed, triple-washed, gleaming, little, over-sanitized specimens, we expect them to be. You’d never guess that they had been grown in dirt.

Unfortunately, we miss out on the greens. Beet greens, like all greens, are high in fiber. They also contain significant amounts of vitamins K, C and A. Best of all, they are tasty! Some people find them bitter. I honestly don’t. Compared to kale, they are almost sweet… but not quite. I would say they have a fresh, green, earthy flavor. Beet greens are excellent sautéed. They can be added to soups and stews or served raw in salad. I enjoy adding beet greens to my autumn smoothies.

Autumn Apple and Beet Green Smoothie

One Cup of Almond Milk

One Apple (cored and cut in a few pieces)

Handful of Beet Greens

Handful of Kale

One Banana

A few drops of lemon juice

Two Tablespoons of Chia Seeds

Throw all the ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth. Drink immediately. (I have begun to add the chia seeds after I pour it into a glass. Little suckers get stuck to the side of the blender if you aren’t careful!)

Do you eat the greens that come with your root vegetables? Would you? Please leave me a reply. I would love to hear from you.

Many Blessings,

Cynthia

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What is The Best Protein Shake? The One You Make Yourself!

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I am not generally a fan of processed foods. There is nothing natural about cookies that have a two year shelf life or a freeze-dried shake with ingredients almost no one can pronounce. If you want to look good, feel good and perform optimally then I believe a varied, whole foods diet is the way to go. However, there are times when you might need a little assistance from something comes in a plastic container.

I have been dealing with one of these situations on and off since I fell. While my jaw was wired shut, I lived on protein shakes and soup. More recently, I had braces put on which when combined with my flipper (a retainer with a fake tooth on it) makes eating solid food on my lunch hour a bit daunting. So, I am back on liquids and very soft (i.e. easy to remove foods) during the day.

For a while, I was regularly picking up Nearly Naked Protein Drinks, thinking they were among the better options on the market. I noticed that I was feeling really bloated and couldn’t understand why. Then one day, I read the label and was surprised to learn that these shakes had WHEY, as well as, soy protein in them. Ugh, no wonder why! Then I went on a quest to find a vegan, organic ready-made protein shake. There are a few but they are not always that easy to find and I wasn’t convinced ready-made was even the way to go. When was it made? How long had it sat on the shelf?…on the truck?… at the factory???

I decided to go back to making my own. Although, I do use protein powder sometimes for the sake of convenience (other times I will blend down tofu or throw in some vegan yogurt,) I like having control over the freshness of the other ingredients. Quite frankly, I think they taste a lot better because you can use fresh fruit, real vanilla bean or your favorite dark chocolate. Also, you can put it in a reusable container. So, that is kinder to Mama Earth. And if you use a glass container (I like Ball Jars ’cause they’re neat!) it is kinder to you because you don’t have to worry about plastic contamination. It is also kinder to your wallet. I can make something twice the size of the Nearly Naked Shake I was buying for far less than half the price.

My country-inspired protein shake.

So, next time you find yourself reaching for a pricey protein shake, why not reach for your blender instead? All you need is a banana, a glass of almond milk, a scoop of protein powder (or half a package of tofu,) maybe a lil pure vanilla extract and then just shake shake shake…

What do you like to blend up? I would love to hear from you.

Love and blessings to all.